Mowing machine



May 15 1951 D w. H. FHELFsl 2,552,583

MowING MACHINE Filed'June s, 194e 5 2 sheets-sheet 1 @mf-mmf- May 15, 1951 w. H. PHELPs 2,552,583

Y MowING MACHINE Filed June s, 194s l2 sheets-sheet 2 Patented May 15, 1.951y

MOWING MACHINE William Howard Phelps, Ralston Nebr- Application `lune 8, 1948, Serial No. 31,762

4 Claims.

This invention relates to a mowing machine for cutting grass, weeds and the like, and more particularly to such device in which the rotary cutting blade is driven from an internal combustion engine by a friction drive having a friction driving wheel and a friction driven wheel and in which the friction driving Wheel is itself driven by friction from the drive shaft of the engine.

In a mower or other machine having a tool driven through a friction driven wheel and a friction drive wheel from a single cylinder internal combustion engine the explosion point in the cycle will always occur at substantially the same place with relation to the position or the piston, and if the friction drive wheel is rigidly' lined to the crank shaft there will always be a slight Slip.- ping of the friction drive wheel onthe contasting surface of the friction driven wheel at the time of explosion in the engine cylinder. Even though this amount of slipping will be slight at each en,- plosion, it will in time add up to a considerable amount due to the large number of explosions occurring during the operation of the engine. Such slipping occurring at the same place in the circumference of the friction drive wheel, will in time cause a fiat spot to wear in said circ ence, which flat spot will increase Yin rsize time break the friction drive wheel apart point, rIhis dimculty I have overcome in the present invention by providing .o .Slipping iloiiolo drive for the friction drive wheel itself.

Among the objects of my invention are; to Dief vide a novel and improved mowing machine; to provide a novel `and improved friction drive for mowers; to provide a friction dri-ve havingwa fric? tion driven wheel and a friction drive Wheel yin which there is provided a slipping friction drive for the friction drive wheel itself; to provide a mower having novel cooling means; to provide a mower having means for preventing accumulaf tion of clippings on the machine and keep them blown off and scattered during the operation of the mower; to provide an internal combustion engine hingedly mounted on a wheeled platform and novel means for l*moving the friction `drive Wheel into and out of contact with the friction driven wheel to start and stop operation of the cutting blade; to provide means for normally constantly urging the friction drive wheel toward the active surface of the friction `driven Wheel; to provide novel means for selectively breaking said contact; and such further objects, advantages and capabilities, inherently possessed by my invention, as will later more` fully appear.

The invention is illustrated in a preferred em.-

(C1. SiS-254) bodiment in the accompanying drawings, in which- Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a mower embody.- ing my invention.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary side Velevation, partly in section, `showing an internal com.- bustion engine hingedly mounted on a mower platform, and a friction drive for the Quitar blade.

Fig. 4, is a fragmentary transverse section on the line if-4l of Fig. 3. v V M AIn the embodiment illustrated, my improved mower comprises in general a platform i 'norit# ed on wheels 2 to enable the mower to be pushed, bv the handles h, alone' over the ground tot@ mowed, there being swingably mounted above the top of the platform a vertically extending single cylinder, tvvovcycle internal combustion engi having an outwardly extending crank shaft A on which is mounted afriction drive Wheel 5. Fixed to the upper surface of the platform` by bolts or the like'i is a pedestal 'l npon which-:ils rotatably mounted a wheel 8, frictionally dr en by the friction drive wheel 5, said friction dr ein wheel 3 having fixed to rotate therewith a tout? ter blade 9 for cutting grass, weeds and the` lie as the mower is moved along over the gronnd;

The internal combustion engine 3 `is fiied by bolts or the like Il) to va base member Il, which on each side toward its rear edge is providedlwith a trunnicn or the like I2, pivotally mounted in an opstanding plate I3 having in its bottom edge a horizontal flange I4 xed by bolts or the like I5 tothe platform i. This enablesthe internal combustion engine to be tilted in a vertical plane for reasons explained more fully hereinafter.

Fixed to the crank shaft Il by a bolt l5, and any additional means desired to securely lock the same thereon, is a back plate is? having formed on its rear surface a plurality of rearwardly ex` tending vanes or blades iB which, when the `back plate is in rotation with the crank sha-ft, serve to direct cooling air currents against the front side of the internal combustion engineand into the return baille lil from which they are deilected against the rear side of the internal .combustion engine for cooling the same. Sonie of said air currents will also strike the exposed part of the crank shaft to further facilitate the cooling Aopferation. These vanos or ribs LS also ser-ye as strengtheningmeans for the back .plate il.'

Rotatably mounted upon` the cran-k shaft Vjust in front lof the back plate il is a lfriction drive wheel 2U preferably formed of rubber and radapted to be frictionally driven by the back plate which back plate, as stated above, is secured and locked to the crank shaft extension for positive rotation therewith. Very satisfactory results have been secured by making said friction drive wheel of 95 durometer hardness rubber with a full hard rubber hub or center which is rotatable on the crank shaft extension when any slipping occurs between the back plate and the friction drive wheel. The back plate El has a flat face positioned against the flat face 2i of the depression 22 formed in the rear face of the friction drive wheel. The front face of the friction drive wheel 20 is also preferably formed with a depressed portion 23 having a flat face 24 against which presses a complemental flat face 25 of a pressure plate 26 having a central aperture seated over the crank shaft extension 4. Threaded into a threaded opening in the end of the crank shaft *extension is a stud 21 upon which are threaded a main nut 23 and a lock nut 29. Positioned between the main nut 28 and the outer face of the pressure plate 2t is a cup-shaped spring steel washer 30, so that when pressure is applied against this bowed spring washer by nut 28 this pressure will be transmitted to the pressure plate 2% and in turn to the friction drive wheel 2S, resulting in the latter pressing with a desired degree of pressure against the front face of the back plate l1. When nut 28 has been adjusted on stud 21 to give a desired pressure between the back plate and the friction drive wheel this adjustment will be maintained by tightening lock nut 29.

The outer circumference of the friction drive wheel-is preferably bevelled as shown at 3i. Rotatably mounted within the pedestal 'i by any suitable anti-friction means, such as the rollers 32 and their complemental mounting, is a vertical shaft 33 having fixed at its upper end by a key 34 and a nut 35 the friction driven wheel 8, which around its marginal edge portions is formed with a bevel portion 35 so tha't when the friction drive wheel is indriving engagement with the friction driven wheel the inclined driving surfaces 3l and 35 will be formed of complemental angles to facilitate satisfactory driving engagement therebetween.

Shaft 33 extends any suitable distance below the bottom surface of platform l. Cutter blade 9 is fixed to this shaft between the spacer element 31 and a nut 33 which nut fixes the cutter blade to the shaft for rotation therewith at any suitable distance above the ground. Fixed to the bottom marginal portions of the friction driven Wheel 8, or integrally formed therewith as desired, are a plurality of vanes and strengthening members 39 which during rotation of the friction ,driven wheel 8 will function as cooling means and also to blow off from the platform and adjacent portions of the machine any clippings or cuttings, to prevent accumulation of the same on the machine.

Fixed by bolt 40 or other suitable fastening means, to the platform l is a plate 4| having formed in its rear end a hook or loop 42 under which is rotatably mounted the laterally bent end 43 of a clutch leverl 44. The lever at the inner end of the bent end 43 extends vertically upwardly at 44 and then to the left as viewed in Fig. 4 to form the horizontal cam portion 45, and `,thence vertically upwardly to be available for grasping by the operator for swinging movement ,ment of the lever 44.

platform. Formed in one of the side walls of the base member I l is a longitudinally extending horizontal slot 46, within which moves the horizontal cam portion 45 of the clutch lever 44. Lever 44 is shown in solid lines in Fig. 3 as being at the rear end of slot i6, in which position the engine 3 is lowered to bring the adjacent circumferences of friction drive wheel 2 and friction driven wheel 8 into driving contact with each other.V in other words whenv the lever 44 is in its rear position the parts are so arranged that the friction drive wheel 2!! will exert full 4ldriving'force against friction driven wheel 8 to operate the cutter blade for cutting grass, weeds andthe like. This is due to the fact that in this position of parts the engine has swung forwardly about the pivotal axis l2 into the full line position shown in Fig. 3. When however it is desiredrto lessen the friction between the friction drive wheel 2Q and the friction driven wheel 3, swinging of lever i4 to its extreme forward position as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3 will swing Vthe engine `about it's pivotal axis i2 to the rear into the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3, which will raise' the friction drive wheel away from the friction driven Wheel, as also shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3, to discontinue the application of driving power to the cutter blade.

In this connection it will be understood that the horizontal portion 45 of lever' ifi constitutes a cam which during movement of lever ifi will ride against the top wall or edge of slot G in 'the-arc of a circle having the center of the bent portion 43 as a fulcrum, thus raising the base member i i during forward movement of the lever, and lowering the same during the rearward'movement of the lever. In order to provide a positive drive between the friction drive wheel and the friction driven wheel without merely depending upon the weight of the engine and associated parts, there is fixed tothe platform to the rear of the base member II by rivets, bolts or the like 4'. a leaf Aspring 48 which at its forward end slidably presses downwardly against the upper surface of the base member Il, this spring being so formed and mounted as to always press downwardly at its forward end against the base member i I to tend to urge the friction drive wheel against the friction driven wheel unless such friction driving contact is lessened or prevented by forward move- If preferred any other suitable lost motion connection may be provided between the front end of leaf spring i3 Vand the base member Il so as to prevent any binding of parts during the swinging movement of the base member Il. While in Fig. 2 this leaf spring 48 is shown as applied through a slot to the middle portion of the base member i i, it will be understood that any suitable location of the leaf spring 48 may be used as desired.

FromV the above it will be seen that 1 have provided a friction drive for driving a rotary cutter blade or other suitable tool from an internal combustion engine in such manner as to prevent the forming of a fiat spot on the friction drive wheel. This is prevented by a slight slipping movement between the friction drive wheel 26 and the back plate I1 at the explosion moment. Even though this slip at the time of explosion is very slight it will be understood that due to the large number of explosions occurring in a gas engine during its normal operation, this slippage will eventually amount to a considerable amount. For example the back plate is held against.4 the adjacent flat surface of the friction drive wheel with suicient pressure that the slippage between these parts will be as little as from 1/ to 1/ioou of an inch per explosion. The operating surfaces are machined, including the rear fiat surface of the friction drive wheel so that, even though the slippage for each explosion is small, this flat surface of the friction drive wheel works its way continuously around with relation to the back plate Il without developing a flat spot on the friction drive wheel. Applicant has tested the same by marking with a spot of paint on the back plate Il and an opposite spot of paint on the friction drive wheel, which showed that after five minutes operation with the engine running at 3000 R. P. M. the two paint spots were as much as two inches apart. It will be understood however that such distance can be regulated to be more or less, depending upon the amount of pressure exerted by the nut 28 and the cup-shaped spring steel washer 30 againstthe pressure plate 26 and between the adjacent surface of the friction drive wheel and the back plate.

Further tests developed that by having the friction drive wheel rigidly xed to the crank shaft extension to at all times positively rotate therewith, this created the flat spot referred to earlier herein as a result of which it was possible to only get a life expectancy of the machine of about 11/2 to 2 mowing seasons. By the present invention however this machine may be successfully operated through a long number of mowing seasons. Also the use of the cooling vanes on the back face of the back plate I1 so effectively cools the engine and crank shaft that it is hardly ever possible to notice a temperature rise above atmospheric temperature in the large friction driven wheel.

Also the provision of the leaf spring 48 is an important feature of this invention, as this spring exerts a force downward at all times to retain proper pressure between the friction drive wheel and the friction driven wheel so that, regardless of the angle a mower may be when in operation, either on a side hill or going up hill, the shifting of the center of gravity of the engine itself does not affect the efficiency of the friction drive. This is due to the spring being the primary pressure means rather than depending upon the Weight of the engine itself. The cam clutch lever, as will be understood, serves as means for connecting and disconnecting the rotary cutter blade to and from the power. This enables the engine to be started with the blade out of gear or disengaged.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. In a friction drive for an internal combustion engine having an extending crank shaft, a back plate xed to said crank shaft, a friction wheel rotatably mounted on said crank shaft and in slipping contact with said back plate, a pressure plate in front of said friction wheel, a concave spring in contact with the front of said pressure plate, means for varying the tension of said spring to vary the friction between the back plate and the friction wheel, a second friction wheel frictionally driven by contact with the first mentioned friction wheel, and a driven shaft fixed to the second friction wheel.

2. In a friction drive, an internal combustion engine, a drive shaft driven by said engine, a

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first friction wheel rotatably mounted on the drive shaft, a back plate fixed to said shaft and having frictional driving contact with the rear face of the first friction wheel, a pressure plate on said shaft on the opposite side of said first friction wheel, a cup-shaped spring washer between said pressure plate and the adjacent face of the rst friction wheel, means for applying pressure to said washer and said pressure plate so as to regulate the frictional driving pressure between the back plate and the first friction wheel, a second friction wheel frictionally driven from the first friction wheel, a tool mounted to rotate with said second friction wheel, and means to bring said two friction wheels into and out of contact with each other.

3. In a mower, a wheeled platform, an internal combustion engine on said platform and having an extended crank shaft, a back plate rigidly xed to said crank shaft and having a friction face in a plane at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the crank shaft, a first friction wheel slippably mounted on said crank shaft and having a friction face in frictional engagement with the friction face of said back plate, adjustable pressure means for selectively increasing and decreasing the frictional driving contact between said two faces, a second friction wheel frictionally driven by said first friction wheel, a shaft fixed to said second friction wheel, and a rotary cutter blade fixed to said last mentioned shaft, whereby any wear on the first friction wheel caused by explosions in the engine will be gradually progressively distributed around f the circumference of the rst friction wheel to give longer life thereto.

4. In a friction drive for an internal combustion engine having an extended crank shaft, a back plate rigidly xed to said crank shaft and having a friction face in a plane at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the crank shaft, a first friction wheel slippably mounted on said crank shaft and having a friction face complemental to that of said back plate and in frictional engagement therewith, adjustable pressure means for increasing and decreasing the frictional driving contact between said two faces, a second friction wheel frictionally driven by contact with said rst friction wheel, a shaft fixed to said second friction wheel, and a tool fixed to said last mentioned shaft, so that any wear on the first friction wheel from the second friction wheel caused by explosions in the engine will be gradually progressively distributed around the circumference of the first friction wheel to give longer life thereto.

WILLIAM HOWARD PHELPS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,508,827 Valiquet Sept. 16, 1924 1,819,791 Reed Aug. 18, 1931 1,866,380 Wagner July 5, 1932 2,166,450 Smalley July 18, 1939 2,232,671 Loder Feb. 18, 1941 2,278,922 Goodall Apr. '7, 1942 2,445,965 Packwood July 27, 1948 

